Spotlight

The latest press coverage on corruption, human rights abuses, violations of freedom of the press and socio-economic exclusion in Angola, every Wednesday on Maka Angola:

FT: Transparency reforms yield little change
July 18, 2012: Civil society activist Rafael Marques de Morais condemns the relentless self-enrichment by government officials using “their official positions to override the line between public and private interests”. While Angola’s oil economy has never been more transparent, the impact of this on the governance of the country is trivial and even strengthens the regime.

FT: Property scene reveals Angola’s wealth gap
July 13, 2012: For decades, the residents of Luanda’s waterfront slum have gazed up at the hilltop presidential compound and the colonial fort overlooking the harbour. Now the vista is changing. Little by little, other people’s prosperity is eating into Chicala. The first phase of a new development of glittering edifices that dwarf the settlement’s one-floor houses includes a hotel where a sandwich costs $30 and the offices of an oil company.

HRW: IMF Should Insist on Audit
July 11, 2012: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) should insist that Angola’s government explain how it spent more than US$41.8 billion in unaccounted oil revenues from 2007 to 2011, Human Rights Watch, Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa (OSISA)-Angola and the Revenue Watch Institute said in a letter to the IMF released today.

Reuters: Angola opposition threatens rallies over vote setup
July 12, 2012: Angola’s main opposition party, UNITA, threatened on Thursday to stage street protests if the election committee did not correct alleged irregularities in the preparation of a general election to be held on August 31. The vote will be only the second following the end of a 27-year civil war a decade ago and will elect lawmakers and a president in Africa’s largest oil-producing state after Nigeria.

VOA: Rights Groups Demand Audit of Angola’s Finances
July 11, 2012: Rights groups want officials of the International Monetary Fund to demand an independent audit of Angola’s finances. They say an estimated $41 billion in oil revenues has been unaccounted for in the country during the years 2007 and 2011. Elias Isaac, country director of Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa-Angola, said his organization, along with the Revenue Watch Institute and Human Rights Watch has called on the IMF to audit Angola over the discrepancies.

AllAfrica: War Veterans Threaten to Disrupt the Upcoming Elections If They Do Not Receive Their Pensions
July 13, 2012: In Luanda, Angola, war veterans are threatening to protest against the government because they have not been receiving their pensions. The veterans are former members of the liberation movements who fought for independence from the Portuguese from 1961 to 1975 and in the subsequent civil war until 2002. Apparently, these veterans have received a once off payment of approximately 500 USD, but after this initial payment they never received the monthly pensions that have been a preserve of the senior officers.

Reuters: FACTBOX-Political risks to watch in Angola
July 12, 2012: Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos will lead his MPLA party in a general election on Aug. 31 and is widely expected to secure another term in office after 32 years at the helm of Africa’s second-biggest oil producer. Speculation about his long-term political plans is rife, however. The naming of Manuel Vicente – the former head of state oil firm Sonangol – as No. 2 on a list of party candidates was seen as a sign he is being groomed to succeed the president after the election. The main opposition party, UNITA, has accused the MPLA of using the election commission to rig the vote.